The invention relates to a method of handling the control of a dynamic user interface of a handset that allows the user easy access to the most commonly used functionalities of the phone. The invention furthermore relates to a phone using such a method and in particular to a cellular phone using such a method.
The text editing program MicrosoftWord(trademark) from Microsoft Corporation(copyright) includes a text editing facility xe2x80x9cREDOxe2x80x9d/xe2x80x9cUNDOxe2x80x9d. By means of this facility the last change made in a document, such as editing, formatting, checking spelling, and inserting breaks, footnotes, and tables may be undone andxe2x80x94when undonexe2x80x94redone again. This is a very nice facility when editing a text.
The usability of this feature has been recognized within technical fields other than pure text editing. EP 653875 describes how the activation of an UNDO key on a facsimile apparatus may reverse the previous user command and cause the apparatus to return to a state it had just before the previous user command. However, the UNDO key mainly has the appearance of a xe2x80x9cregret keyxe2x80x9d to avoid transmission disasters and to allow the user to escape a complicated menu structure. The user interface does not become more dynamic even though it may be said that the user interface has become more user-friendly.
At present a major portion of commercially available portable phones allow the user access to several lists including outgoing calls list, ingoing calls list and missed calls list. However, not all the users find these lists valuable. Most users find it easier to access frequently used numbers via the phone book of the phone than using the outgoing calls list.
In accordance with the invention the control of a dynamic user interface of a handset, besides perhaps the ordinary handling activities, is handled by detecting activities initiated by the user in different application and registration of said activities in a list which is common for said applications and currently updated upon detection of a new activity, displaying said list upon request from the user, and allowing the user to select actions from the list for redoing or undoing-doing the selected action in dependence on the type of the action.
The invention provides a user interface for a radiophone allowing the user to use the menu items in a menu structure in a more dynamic way without losing the functionality of the phone.
A number of applications are available in e.g. new cellular phones. In addition to the call handling application, the cellular phones may handle a plurality of other applications, such as:
messages (message handling application),
diverting of incoming calls (divert application),
setting of the interface, such as volume, ringing tone, light (Ul setting application). According to the invention operations or activities performed in these applications are stored in a common list, and when an operation or activity on said list is selected for undoing or redoing, the corresponding application is accessed for undoing or redoing the operation or activity.
The list may be accessible as one of the first items in the menu structure. In contrast to the prior art, the list may contain all kinds of activitiesxe2x80x94both the call handling, the messages handling, the setting of the phone parameters, etc. The list will preferably contain between 5 and 20 items and most preferably about 10 items. When the list contains e.g. 10 items, the most frequently used functionalities will appear from the list. Hereby the list will be a dynamic picture of the type of the user. However, the future development of the displays will determine the optimum number of items present in the list.
Preferably, the list is controlled by the first in, first out principle. However, this principle may preferably be managed in an intelligent way so that the very same item does not appear twice in the list. The managing could also prevent different subsequent settings of the same parameter from appearing more than once from the list. This could apply to the setting of the ringing tunes. With regard to the phone settings this will normally require some history stored together with the list, because the former setting has to be known when the Undo instruction is executed. The Redo instruction is dedicated to the handling of calls and messages and the phone settings, while the Undo instruction is mainly dedicated to the phone settings.
A handset in accordance with the invention may allow the user to establish a connection via a telecommunications network, and comprises a transceiver for this purpose, means for inputting information into the phone, a display for displaying information to the user, a controller unit that controls the activity of the transceiver, the input means and the display. The means for inputting information are usable for performing a number of different actions including phone settings and call handling. The controller unit is provided with memory means for storing a common list which contains the latest actions performed in different applications and currently updated by the controller unit. The inputting means comprises means for requesting the display of at least a part of said updated action list on said display, and the inputting means further comprises means for entering redo or undo instructions for a selected action from said displayed action list.
A handset in accordance with the invention may be able to provide a dynamic list containing the recently most used functions of the phone. The list may contain submenu items from all menu groups, whereby doing recalls will be very easy. At the same time, e.g. muting the phone and setting the light on will be very easyxe2x80x94both the setting and the resetting.
It has been found to be advantageous to arrange the activities on the list sorted by time with the newest activity as the first item. Even though the navigation through the menu has become much easier in recent years, it will be easier for the user to access the first item rather than the last one.
A handset in accordance with the invention will be particularly useful in telecommunications units using a phone part for accessing a cellular communications network. These units get more and more complex due to the many applications available in addition to just handling calls. These additional applications includes SMS messages, data transmission, Internet access and so on. Therefore, the menu structure will become more and more voluminous.